The Killer Control Center Cannot Automatically Update

If the installer cannot automatically update, you might see an error, such as, but not limited to, this one:

In this case, you will need to manually uninstall the previous versions. First, however, you will want to download the latest installer and have it handy. Once you have the installer ready to go, right-click Start, click Apps and Features, then find every entry that has "Killer" in it, including "Killer Drivers" and/or "Killer Performance Suite, or any variation, and uninstall them. After they have uninstalled, restart your machine, then install the latest suite.

Previous Killer Applications or Drivers Cannot Be UninstalledORThere Are No Killer Applications or Drivers in The Apps and Features Menu But the Killer Control Center Will Not Install

If you encounter an issue where the old "Killer Suite" or "Killer Drivers" cannot be uninstalled, and they remain stuck in your Apps and Features menu, or they appear to be removed, but the latest Killer Control Center appears to attempt to install, then roll back, then there are a few ways to address this. Even if you can no longer see the old applications in your Apps and Features menu, it is very likely that they are still there, and that they are the problem. For very old previous installs, especially those that may be broken by updates from Windows 7 to Windows 10, we have developed a tool that can remove the old installs. Here is a step-by-step guide on downloading and using the tool. Use this as your first step in troubleshooting a broken older install:

Uninstall all "Killer" suites and drivers that will uninstall from this menu.

Close the Apps and Features menu and double-click the Killer Remover.

Once it is finished, it will prompt you to restart your machine. Restart your machine, and check to see if the stuck item is removed from the Apps and Features menu

The Application is Still Stuck or The Latest Package Still Cannot Install After I Have Run the Killer Remover

The Microsoft Installer is probably encountering an error from which it cannot recover. Sometimes, you will get an error, such as "The feature you are trying to use is on a network resource that is unavailable..." or some other seemingly unrelated error, or the installer may fail with no error given other than it could not complete. Luckily, Microsoft has a tool to fix this issue, and you can find our detailed, step-by-step guide on how to find and use Microsoft's tool for fixing problems that block programs from being installed or removed- http://www.killernetworking.com/driver-downloads/kb/faq/34-error-2753-xtendsoftapservice. Make sure you choose "Uninstalling" even if you are trying to ultimately install the latest suite, as the problem is that you need to remove the remaining parts of the old software, even if they do not appear in your Apps and Features menu.

If you still have issues with the Killer Control Center's installer, or uninstalling older versions of the suites, please contact support, and we will be happy to help. If the installer is failing, please run the installer one more time, and include the log that is generated in your temp folder. You can access your temp folder by pressing Windows Key + R, typing %TEMP%...

...and pressing Enter.

From there, sort by Date, and attach the most recent MSI***.LOG to your support request. It should be dated at the time you last ran the installer.

You can reach support by clicking below. Please also include information on any troubleshooting that you have already done.

Killer Network Adapters and KRACK Exploit

We are aware of the current concern involving the KRACK vulnerabilities in WPA2-PSK Wi-Fi encryption.

All of our current line of network adapters are fully supported only on the current versions of Windows operating systems (Windows 10, 8.1, and 7). As this is a GTK Key exploit, our users are largely safe, as Microsoft has already patched these operating systems to address the issue (https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2017-13080), and the operating system is the primary key handling layer.

Bluetooth or Wi-Fi Missing From Device Manager or Grayed Out

Note: This guide can be used in the event of any M.2 device vanishing from the Device Manager. The procedure lists Killer devices specifically, but the phenomenon is widespread among M.2 devices and Windows 10, and these same steps can be used to restore functionality when any M.2 device disappears from Device Manager.

When this occurs, it is an issue of the BIOS or the operating system not enumerating the device properly. In very rare situations, it can be cause by some kind of physical trauma causing the device to become dislodged, or the device failing, but more often than not, the hardware is just fine. It’s just a matter of getting Windows or, sometimes, the BIOS, to see it again. Sometimes the device will be missing altogether, or sometimes it will be grayed out - the difference is only in whether your Device Manager is set to show devices that are no longer present in the machine. Either way, the Device Manager thinks that the device is gone, and that is what needs to be addressed.

First off, make sure that you do not have any USB devices disabled. The internal Wi-Fi and Bluetooth adapter is actually USB device, so if there are any USB devices disabled in your Device Manager, for any reason, this can cause the Bluetooth device to vanish. If you are unable to enable the USB device, then you should resolve that issue first. This includes USB Hub devices, or any devices under the Universal Serial Bus controllers category in Device Manager that show any errors, for any reason. Once you no longer have any disabled USB devices, the Bluetooth device should show back up. On some platforms, this is the #1 cause of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth adapters mysteriously vanishing from the Device Manager. Once you have resolved the USB issue, restart your machine, and check to see if the missing device has reappeared in your Device Manager.

If you do not have any disabled USB devices, or any with errors, or if you have resolved that issue and the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth adapter has not reappeared in the Device Manager, then you will need to update your chipset drivers, and possibly your machine or mainboard’s BIOS. We have noted that some platforms have chipset drivers that are buggy enough that they absolutely will experience this issue if their chipset drivers are not updated. You will need to obtain these drivers from your mainboard or machine manufacturer’s support page. If you cannot tell which drivers are the chipset drivers, it is generally recommended that you simply update all of the offered drivers, except for the Killer Network card drivers, which you should get from us, as they are likely more recent. If there is a BIOS update available, then updating the BIOS is also recommended, especially if the BIOS update notes mention anything that might pertain to this situation. Make certain that you at least update the chipset and USB drivers, if applicable. Some platforms combine the USB drivers into the chipset drivers, so you may not see a separate download. Once you have done these updates, restart the machine, and see if the missing device reappears in the Device Manager. Depending on what is available, the best order in which to update is as follows:

Update the USB drivers from your machine or mainboard's support page. If none are listed, they are probably rolled into the chipset driver.

Update all other drivers available from your machine or mainboard's support page, except Killer Networking and Bluetooth drivers, which you should get from us.

Restart your machine by clicking Start > Power > Restart

Windows itself can also play a part in the disappearing device. The Anniversary Update saw many such devices vanish, so much so that the Creator’s Update added a Bluetooth troubleshooter to Windows 10. Make sure that your Windows installation is up to date by using Windows Search to search Windows Update

then press Enter, and click Check for Updates.

Once it has downloaded and installed everything it finds, restart the machine, and repeat this process until Windows Update finds no updates directly after restarting. Once this happens, check to see if the device has reappeared in the Device Manager. If this doesn’t help, and the issue is Bluetooth related, you can try troubleshooting using Windows built-in troubleshooter. Microsoft has instructions here - https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/14169/windows-10-fix-bluetooth-problems-faq

If the device is still missing from the Device Manager, then that means that it isn’t the chipset drivers (or at least it isn’t only the chipset drivers) that is not properly enumerating the device, but rather the BIOS itself. In this case, you will need to discharge the machine to force the BIOS to re-enumerate all of its hardware. Before you do this, make sure that you have updated the BIOS to the latest version, from the mainboard or machine manufacturer’s website, so that you address the flaw that caused this issue in the first place. Once that BIOS update is in place, and you have confirmed that the machine has booted back up, but the device is still not appearing in Device Manager, shut the machine back down, and unplug it from the wall. You will now need to fully discharge the machine.

If this is a desktop, you will need to remove the side panel, discharge yourself of static electricity on something metal (your computer’s case might work, or possibly your desk) and look for the CMOS battery. It is a large coin-cell battery. Remove that battery. Sometimes it’s easier with a flathead screwdriver, but it should be fairly simple to remove. Once you have removed that battery, press the power button on the machine 2-3 times to completely discharge it, then replace the CMOS battery and the case. If you are not comfortable doing this on your own, please refer to your mainboard or machine's support.

If this is a laptop, hopefully it is one where you can easily remove the battery. This will be specific to your model of laptop, so you may need to refer to your owner’s manual, or your laptop’s support website. Some MSI models are held in with a single screw. If you are able to remove the laptop battery, do so, and then press the laptop’s power button a few times to fully discharge it. If you are unable to remove the laptop’s battery, temporarily change the power plan to a setting that does not allow it to sleep when the battery is low, then run the laptop until it discharges itself. Once it has discharged itself, press the power button a few times to make sure it is fully discharged.

Once you have a fully discharged machine, put it back together, plug it back in, and let it boot in to Windows. You may see a message mentioning setting the BIOS to defaults, or something along those lines. This is nothing to be alarmed about – simply confirm that you want it set to defaults, unless you had set custom settings, in which case, you will need to re-set those custom settings. In the future, this message may be a warning that your CMOS or laptop battery is dead or on its last legs, but for now, we know that you discharged the machine on purpose, so we can safely ignore this warning. Once you are booted back in to Windows, check the Device Manager to make sure that the missing Wi-Fi or Bluetooth device is no longer missing.

In some very rare cases, the device may not show up because the machine was not fully discharged. We have had users report that they were able to repeat the steps to discharge their machines a second time, and have had success after that. Once the updates were in place, and the devices shows up, that is usually the end of the problem.

One final step that you can take, if you are willing and able to do so, is to physically reseat your Wi-Fi adapter. The Wi-Fi and Bluetooth device are on the same card, so there is only one adapter to reseat, and reseating this adapter only requires that you remove one screw, slide it out of the slot, then slide it back in and screw it back down, being careful not to dislodge or damage the attached antenna leads. However, the difficulty in getting to this adapter and performing this step will vary depending on your machine or mainboard, and your level of expertise. You may wish to consult with your mainboard or machine manufacturer’s support at this point. If you have followed all of the other steps, and the device still has not reappeared, the device, or the mainboard, may also be physically damaged, and in need of repair, which would also necessitate contacting your mainboard or machine manufacturer’s support for RMA or repair options.

"This Device Cannot Start (Code 10)" in Device Manager

We have seen many Code 10 errors lately from machines where Windows 10 has automatically updated the drivers from older versions. These errors do not mean that your adapter has actually failed. This is an issue with Windows 10, and getting the proper drivers installed will correct the issue.

If you have installed the latest Killer Control Center and restarted the machine, and that did not clear the Code 10 error, you can usually clear it by cleaning out the driver store. Here are the steps to clear out the driver store, and install the latest driver:

Make sure you have the latest Killer Control Center installer handy on the machine (you may need to use a USB thumb drive or some other medium if you can't access the Internet with the machine).

Right-click Start, click Apps and Features, find all entries with "Killer" in the title, and uninstall them. This includes "Killer Drivers" or "Killer Suite" or any variations. You can hold off on restarting for now if an uninstaller says to do so.

Close Apps and Features and right-click Start and click Device Manager.

Find the Ethernet adapter under the Network Adapters heading, right click it, and click Uninstall Device. If you cannot find it, you may need to click View > Show hidden devices at the top of Device Manager. It may also be listed somewhere other than under Network Adapters.

Check the box for Delete the driver software for this device if it is present.

Click Uninstall.

Click the light blue Scan for hardware changes icon at the top of Device Manager. The adapter will probably reappear, and may or may not still show a Code 10, but I would suggest continuing with this guide either way.

Repeat steps 4-7 until you no longer have the option to Delete the driver software for this device. Note that you could keep doing this indefinitely, as Windows will always install a default driver, but once you can no longer Delete the driver software for this device, you have accomplished the goal of clearing out all of the drivers that we were trying to clear out, and so you're done by that point.

Restart the computer by clicking Start > Power > Restart. Do not rely on the machine's power button as many modern computers have that button set to sleep, not power off.

Once the machine has restarted, run the installer for the latest Killer Control Center. If everything doesn't look perfect, restart the machine after the installation, even if the installer did not say to do so.

The Alternate Guide to Fixing Code 10 Errors

This guide is only intended for use when you cannot get drivers onto the machine using a USB drive or an alternate means of Internet access, such as an installed Wi-Fi adapter.

Right-click Start, click Apps and Features, find all entries with "Killer" in the title, and uninstall them. This includes "Killer Drivers" or "Killer Suite" or any variations. If an installer requests a restart at any point, click to allow it to restart.

Once the machine has restarted, test to see if the issue is resolved.

If not, right-click Start, and click Device Manager.

Find the Ethernet adapter under the Network Adapters heading, right click it, and click Uninstall Device. If you cannot find it, you may need to click View > Show hidden devices at the top of Device Manager. It may also be listed somewhere other than under Network Adapters.

Click Uninstall.

Check the box for Delete the driver software for this device if it is present.

Restart the computer by clicking Start > Power > Restart. Do not rely on the machine's power button as many modern computers have that button set to sleep, not power off. Once the machine has restarted, check to see if the issue is resolved.

The Killer Network Manager is our outgoing performance suite. It is no longer being updated, and does not contain the latest Ethernet or Wi-Fi drivers. We encourage all users of the Killer Wireless-AC 1525/1535/1435, Killer Wireless-N 1202/1103, Killer E2200, Killer E2400, and Killer E2500 to upgrade to the Killer Control Center, found here - http://www.killernetworking.com/driver-downloads/item/killer-control-center-x64. This includes users whose machines came with the Killer Network Manager preinstalled. There is no need to continue using the Killer Network Manager.

For a smooth installation, download the latest Killer Control Center installation package, then uninstall all Killer products from your Apps and Features menu, which is accessible by right-clicking Start, then restart your computer, and double-click the new installation package to install the new Killer Control Center.

Once you have successfully updated your drivers, you will want to restart your computer by clicking Start > Power > Restart. It is important to note that closing the lid or pressing the power button on many modern computers does not shut them down, but instead activates sleep mode. You must restart them by clicking Start > Power > Restart for them to restart.

If updating the drivers does not solve the issue, try resetting your networking equipment in this specific order, even if you have reset your some or all of your equipment previously. This order is proven to help your devices sync up properly, and will help to get a clean slate with further troubleshooting. Doing this can help even if only one device is experiencing problems.

Shut down your computer.

Locate your modem and note the lights on your modem when it is normal and ready. There may be a "Ready" light.

Unplug your modem, router, and any switches or hubs, between your computer and the modem, as well as any wireless boosters or access points, and leave them all unplugged for now.

Plug in your modem.

Wait until your modem's lights show normal operation again.

Plug in your router, if you have one, and give it about five minutes to boot.

Plug in anything else between your computer and the modem

Power on your computer.

Once your computer is booted and connected to the Internet, you will want to reset its network stack:

In the search box on the taskbar, type Command prompt, right-click Command prompt, and then select Run as administrator > Yes.

At the command prompt, run the following commands in the listed order, and then check to see if that fixes your connection problem:

Type netsh winsock reset and press Enter.

Type netsh int ip reset and press Enter.

Type ipconfig /release and press Enter.

Type ipconfig /renew and press Enter.

Type ipconfig /flushdns and press Enter.

Now reboot your machine once more and test to see if the issue is resolved.

If not, the next step is to make sure that your Windows installation is completely up to date. Microsoft has been updating Windows more often than with any previous release, so it's important to keep things up to date. To do this, simply search Windows Updates, hit Enter, and then click Check for Updates. If your machine finds updates, check again once it finishes installing. Once your machine finds no updates, restart again, and then check for updates once more. Once your machine finds no updates upon a fresh reboot, your Windows installation should be fully up to date.

If you have performed the above, and you are still experiencing issues with slow network speeds, there are some other things to try:

Set a benchmark. Place the device in one place, if dealing with Wi-Fi, and run a test using one speed test. Turn off all other network usage while troubleshooting. Speedtest.net and Testmy.net are both good bandwidth tests. Run three tests in short succession and record an average as your starting point. Test after each change to see if there has been improvement. Record what you changed, and what the speeds the change produced. If the change seems dramatic, restart the machine and test again to be sure.

Make sure your BIOS is up to date from your machine or mainboard manufacturer's support page.

Make sure your chipset drivers are up to date from your machine or mainboard manufacturer's support page.

Make sure all of the other drivers are up to date from your machine or mainboard manufacturer's support page. You can safely download and install all available driver packages. If the driver does not apply, it will either not install, or will not be used. If the only options in a driver installer package are "Repair" or "Uninstall", choosing "Repair" will update the driver, if there is a newer driver available.

Update the firmware on your router if you own the router.

Update the firmware on your modem if you own the modem, but only if your ISP accepts the firmware. Your ISP's support team can help you with this. Some ISPs also have this information listed somewhere, but they may need to do something on their end if you update the firmware, in order to re-authorize your modem.

Have your ISP update the firmware on your modem or router if they own your modem or router.

If you are using Wi-Fi, minimize the number of solid objects between the access point's antenna and the device suffering from low speeds, using line-of-sight. Moving a device or antenna even an inch to one side could bypass multiple solid objects, making an enormous difference.

If you are using Wi-Fi, use the Killer Control Center's Wi-Fi analyzer to make changes to your router's settings.

5 GHz routers should be set to channels 36-48, and/or 149-165 that are as far away from other channels as possible.

2.4 GHz routers should be set to channels 1, 6, or 11, depending on which channels have the least powerful conflicting radios present.

Sideband, or side channel should be set to 20 MHz if there are many other Wi-Fi access points in your area, especially if you are forced to share a channel. Higher side channels are less powerful, but provide a wider band, allowing the signal to get around solid objects better, theoretically improving performance in situations where there are no interference concerns, but the Wi-Fi signal needs to "get around" solid objects. Many, however, report that, in real life testing, 20 MHz still provides the better signal, so your mileage may vary.

If you are using Wi-Fi and your router has both a 5 GHz radio and a 2.4 GHz radio, name them something different. Although it might seem simpler to name them the same thing, many routers do not handle this very well, and you can see performance issues by having them named the same thing. Many people opt to simply add "5" to the end of the 5 GHz radio.

If you are using Wi-Fi extenders, name each of your extenders something different, so that you know which access point you are connected to. Wi-Fi extenders have limited radio capacity, and will, always provide at least slightly slower speeds than connecting directly to the router, as they have to use the same radio to receive and transmit, at the same time.

If it seems like other machines using the same access point are having no issues, try to verify this. Borrow their machine and run a speed test. Ask for permission first, of course. If you are experiencing issues on a public access point, you might just find that the public access point is just terrible, and that no one else is having a problem because you're the only one playing latency-intensive first person shooters.

If you are using a Wireless-N router in a crowded Wi-Fi environment, you are very likely to encounter drops and speed issues no matter what settings you change. Unfortunately, the 2.4 GHz spectrum is very limited on how many channels are available, and conflicts arise quickly. Updating to a Wireless-AC router may be required to increase your speeds and reduce wireless drops.

If you are using an antivirus or firewall application, try completely uninstalling it for testing purposes. Unfortunately, simply disabling these programs do not work for troubleshooting purposes, as they often continue to manipulate network traffic. They must be fully uninstalled. If you notice that your speeds increase dramatically with the antivirus or firewall application uninstalled, try installing a freshly downloaded version from their website. If that doesn't help, then the issue may be one with the antivirus application itself. In that case, you will want to contact the support team for the antivirus application.

If you are unable to get your speed issues sorted out using the above tips, feel free to contact us directly using the information below!

The installer will automatically detect and install on any 64-bit version of Windows 7, 8.1, and Windows 10.

If you are using an older version of our suite, such as the Killer Network Manager, or you have not updated your network adapter drivers since your last Windows feature update (for example: Anniversary Update, Creator’s Update), then we suggest downloading the Killer Control Center, but uninstalling any application with the "Killer" name from your Apps and Features menu (accessible by right-clicking Start) and restarting your machine before installing the Killer Control Center.

Ad-Hoc and Hotspot Functionality with Killer Adapters in Windows 10

You may wish to create an Ad-Hoc or Hotspot network with your Killer Adapter on your Windows 10 machine.

With Windows 10, all Ad-Hoc and Hotspot functionality has been officially moved away from the drivers, and into the operating system itself.

If you would like to create a Hotspot or Ad-Hoc network with Windows 10, you simply need to click Start, type Hotspot, and press Enter. All of the relevant settings for your Hotspot network will be on that page.

With Windows 10, this is the current official limit of Hotspot or Ad-Hoc functionality.

The Windows 10 version of our driver does not support the "Hosted Network" feature because Microsoft's own WDI driver does not have support for this. Microsoft is having all wireless vendors move to the WDI model, thus this feature will not work on Windows 10 drivers until after (and if) Microsoft expands support for SoftAP/Wi-Fi Direct.

In the meantime, if you need this feature back for certain older applications that made use of their own Hotspot or Ad-Hoc features, you can load the Windows 8.1 drivers via Device Manager from our INF download. We have verified that this works, and have had confirmation from other users as well.

However, we cannot guarantee that Windows Update will not automatically update these drivers, or that they will work flawlessly with Windows 10, as they are, after all, Windows 8.1 drivers. Use Windows 8.1 drivers in Windows 10 at your own risk.

Users may encounter errors when installing drivers in Windows 7. This can be resolved by installing an update to Windows 7 that enables SHA-2 code signing in Windows 7, allowing the older operating system to use the newer device drivers. If allowed to fully update, Windows Update should install this update for you automatically. However, if you are unable to connect to the Internet, you may need to use a USB thumb drive, or some other media, to install this update on the machine on which you wish to install Windows 7. You can read more, and find the appropriate update for your situation here - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/SecurityAdvisories/2015/3033929

Windows Server Drivers

From time to time, we receive requests for Windows Server compatible drivers for our network adapters. Although we do not provide package installers for Windows Server editions, our drivers are Windows WHQL certified, and as such will work with recent Windows Server editions, so long as they are installed manually from the Device Manager using our .INF files.

The E2100, 2100, and Xeno Pro are legacy devices, and no longer receive updated device drivers. Please contact the manufacturer of your Killer 2100, Killer E2100, or Xeno Pro for the latest drivers. The same driver (either 32bit or 64bit) works for each product. It has been confirmed that the latest drivers for Killer 2100, Killer E2100, or Xeno Pro can be downloaded on VisionTek’s support page at: https://www.visiontek.com/support/download-drivers.html. If you are using Windows 10, and Windows does not automatically install drivers for the device, the Windows 8.1 drivers should work for your application.

Ethernet Link Speed Capped at 100 Mbps

You may find that your Ethernet speed is capped at 100 Mbps when your Internet Service Provider, or your internal network connection, should be providing speeds greater than 100 Mbps. If this is the case, you may be encountering a link speed issue. To check for this, check the link speed on the machine in question by following these steps:

Search Control Panel with Windows Search and press Enter

Click Network and Internet

Click View network status and tasks which will be underneath Network and Sharing Center

Click the connection that represents the Ethernet connection to your router or modem. You should see a screen that looks something like this.

Notice that the link "Speed" here reads as 100 Mbps. This means that the negotiated connection speed between the Ethernet adapter and whatever device it is plugged into is 100 Mbps. When everything is working correctly, this speed will read as 1.0 Gbps.

The only setting that is of concern for a Gigabit connection is that the adapter is set to Auto-Negotiate. From the Device Manager, you can check to see that the Killer adapter is set on Auto-Negotiate. This option is under the Advanced tab of the adapter's properties, in Speed & Duplex - right-click the adapter and choose properties, click the Advanced tab, and click Speed & Duplex, and make sure it is set to Auto-Negotiate. This is the default setting.We have had reports of some ISP technicians telling their customers that a Gigabit option will appear in this setting if the network adapter is working correctly. This is incorrect. Auto-Negotiate is the correct setting for Gigabit speeds in Speed & Duplex for Killer Networking Adapters.

If this is set correctly and your link speed still reads as 100 Mbps, then the issue could be a few things, although it is important to note up front that this is almost always an issue with an Ethernet cable. Even if you firmly believe that your Ethernet cabling is perfectly fine, and even if this cabling worked fine before, swapping it out for another, proven cable, or a brand new Cat 6 cable, will almost certainly solve the issue with the minimum of troubleshooting and headache. This is a very, very common occurrence when troubleshooting Gigabit Ethernet, and it nearly always comes down to one cable being the culprit. Note that this includes all cabling between the machine and the router, including any cabling in before and after any switches, or on the other side of any wall jacks, and behind the wall. However, if you were getting Gigabit using a particular setup and suddenly, with no changes whatsoever, your link speed is now 100 Mbps, then it's probably only one cable that is now having issues, and it is likely one that is exposed.

The fastest way to rule out any problems with anything other than cabling is to connect your machine directly into your modem with a single, proven Cat 6 or better Ethernet cable, and preferably into a proven Gigabit capable port, then check the link speed. If the link speed shows as 1.0 Gbps, then you know that the problem is somewhere in what you have just bypassed. Using this method of troubleshooting can be a pain if you are not dealing with a laptop, but it might still be worth doing if you have to decide if you need to call a contractor out to look at wiring behind your walls. Note that very long Ethernet cords are available for purchase, with lengths of over 200 feet or 60 meters, are available, so if you are involved in a prolonged debate with a technician over link speeds, this might be the simplest way to provide a temporary, single cable connection from your machine to the modem.

That said, all adapters are different and handle shorts or issues with cables or ports differently, but a Gigabit adapter reporting as 100 Mbps is almost certainly a physical issue with the networking equipment.

You can troubleshoot this by trying different combinations:

If you cannot connect your machine to the modem with a single, proven Cat 6 cable, maybe you can connect a machine whose link speed currently shows as 1 Gbps to the Ethernet cable that is currently plugged into the problem machine. If this second machine now shows a link speed of 100 Mbps, this also proves that the issue is somewhere in the cabling or equipment between the machine and the access point, not with the machine itself.

Power cycle (unplug and plug back in) your access point (hub, switch, router) and any other device between your machine and the access point.

Cat 6 is preferred to Cat 5e as, although the latter is technically capable of gigabit connections, it lacks any redundancies in grounding, which is an extremely common point of failure in network cables. Cat 6 remedies this issue, and making sure that all of your cabling is Cat 6 or better is usually a surefire way to achieve a gigabit connection.

A "failed" Cat 5e or Cat 6 cable will usually still work at 100 Mbps. It doesn't take much physical trauma for a Cat 5e cable to revert to 100 Mbps, and many of the cheaper ones don't support 1 Gbps out of the bag, even though they will be labeled as supported 1 Gbps connections. If you have only tried a Cat 5e cable, you owe it to yourself to try a Cat 6 cable. This is almost certainly the issue. If you are having issues achieving Gigabit speeds and you have Cat 5e cables in the mix then it is safe to assume that those specific Cat 5e cables are not Gigabit capable. This is common. Incidents such as rolling over the cable with an office chair, or stepping on it, or closing a door on it, can all cause a Cat 5e cable to revert to 100 Mbps link speeds when it was previously working at Gigabit speeds.

Try different ports on your access point (hub, switch, router). If possible, use a port that is proven capable of working at Gigabit speeds with another machine.

If all of these fail, then likely the Ethernet connector on the mainboard has an issue and you would need to check with your PC manufacturer (or mainboard manufacturer, if you assembled the machine yourself) on what your warranty or RMA options are. You may want to perform a physical inspection on the Ethernet jack's pins to make sure that none of them are bent or otherwise damaged. It is worth stressing once more, though, that this issue is nearly always one with the cabling somewhere between the Ethernet jack on your machine, and the Ethernet jack for the modem.

Router or Modem Issues With Killer 1535

This article is intended to cover all issues that affect any access point, be it a router or modem, that occur when the Killer Wireless-AC 1535 connects or is connected.

The 1535 is a cutting edge Wireless-AC device with MU-MIMO and Transmit Beamforming technology and, as such, not all access points have firmware already installed that is able to handle the connection. Problems that some of our users have reported include:

Access point restarts or crashes upon connection, requiring restart

Access point restarts or crashes after being connected for some time, requiring restart

In this case, you are connecting to a device, such as a router, that you own, which is then connected to another device, such as a modem, which is owned by your Internet Service Provider (ISP). If the device in question is a modem, please be sure that, even if you own the device, your ISP supports any firmware that you flash onto the modem. Most ISPs maintain a list of accepted firmware versions for each device online.

In many such situations, you can update the firmware of your device to resolve this issue. You should first try to update the firmware through the router's interface, if possible. If that is not a feature of that router, or if that does not solve the issue, check for the latest firmware from the official support page of your router. If the problem is still not resolved, then see if your router is listed below. Listed below are the routers whose model numbers that we are aware of have issues, along with the location of the updated firmware that the router manufacturer has made available to address the issue:

Netgear WNDR5400 v3 - - Support rep PMing individuals beta firmware on a user-by-user basis. We are unaware of this particular version of the firmware being hosted openly anywhere.

If you own a different model than the one listed above, and updating to the latest firmware that is available from the support page of your router's manufacturer, we suggest contacting the support for your router, we suggest first updating to the latest Killer Control Center, found here - http://www.killernetworking.com/driver-downloads/item/killer-control-center-x64. If that does not solve the issue, the next step would be to contact the support for your device and advise them of the steps that you have taken, and ask if they have a beta firmware available. At the same time, please contact our support, as well, using this form - http://www.killernetworking.com/about/contact.

The Access Point is Owned By Your ISP

In this case, it is very possible that the device is running a very old firmware version. Most ISPs only update the firmware at the customer's request, or when it is absolutely necessary in order for the device to continue working on their network, and many ISPs use very old equipment. If you are connecting directly to an ISP owned device, and you are experiencing these issues, then your best bet would be to contact your ISP's support, and request that they update the firmware on the modem. This is usually a simple thing for them to do. If you are unable to resolve this by asking your ISP to update the firmware on the device, please let us know by contacting us here - http://www.killernetworking.com/about/contact - so that we may document the model of the access point that is not fully compatible with our device. In most cases, however, it is due to the age of the device, and a bug in its firmware. If asked, your ISP may be willing to change you to a different model of access point. You might also be able to provide your own access point (sometimes saving a monthly rental fee in the process), or buy your own router to plug into their modem, then use your router as the access point. If you decide to buy your own modem, most ISPs maintain a list of modems that work with their service. If you use multiple devices at the same time on the same access point, there is a good chance that you will see a boost in performance on all devices by providing your own modem.

Addressing the Isssue with Drivers

There are some discussion threads where we have commented, linking to specific drivers on our site, where those drivers have now been moved, causing 404 errors, or redirections to this page. Those drivers were links to .INF drivers that could be installed using the Device Manager, to address specific access points crashing when the 1535 would connect to them. These posts and links were created before we had driver-only installers hosted on our website, and were generally just the latest driver-only file that we had available at that moment, as the problem was believed to be cause by the performance suite at the time. You can now download the latest driver-only installer here - http://www.killernetworking.com/driver-downloads/category/other-downloads. However, this will not always solve the issue, as the issue is sometimes not the performance suite, but that of buggy firmware with the access point. If you wish to try and address the issue by using a driver-only install, you will need to download the driver-only installer, then uninstall all "Killer" entries in your Programs and Features menu, restart your machine, then install the driver-only package. This will remove all Killer network management capability.

We have had some reports of users who were only able to keep their routers stable with only one very specific driver version - usually some Windows 8.1 driver used on a Windows 10 machine. In those cases, we will do our best to locate a copy of that specific version for you but, unfortunately for those cases, Windows Update will often update those drivers anyway, and that is completely out of our control. There are some guides out there on how to prevent Windows Update from updating your device drivers, but we have neither tested nor endorse any particular method of doing so, and we cannot say what the repercussions may be.

How To Clean Install Any Driver

Note: This guide is written for Windows 10, but will also work for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 with only minor variation.

Before you begin this process, you need to know where the driver installer stores its temporary files. Recent Killer installers store all of their temporary files in the TEMP folder, which can be accessed by pressing Win Key + R to bring up the Run command, then type %TEMP% and press Enter. Other driver packages may use other locations, but you will need to know this information to clear these files, or Windows may attempt to install old drivers from this location.

Make sure you have the latest driver installer for the driver you will be installing. Killer Drivers can be found here - http://www.killernetworking.com/driver-downloads. The Killer Control Center includes the latest performance suite, as well as the latest drivers for current Ethernet and Wi-Fi adapters. Bluetooth drivers are separate.

Restart your machine using Start > Power > Restart. Do not use your machine's power button. This button is often mapped to the "sleep" function, and does not serve the same purpose. Restarting your machine clears any running processes that may be tied to files in the temporary folders.

Delete all temporary installation files for the device driver. For Killer Drivers, you can accomplish this by deleting the entire contents of the TEMP folder. Some elements may not be removable, but they are not likely to be related to the Killer application or drivers.

Right-click Start and click Device Manager.

Find the device whose driver you are uninstalling or reinstalling.

Right-click the device and click Uninstall.

Check the box for Remove the driver software for this device, if the option exists.

Click the Uninstall button.

Once the Device Manager has completed uninstalling the driver, click the light-blue Scan for hardware changes icon at the top of Device Manager. The device will probably reappear.

Repeat steps 6 thru 10 until you no longer see the option to Remove the driver software for this device. At this point, you have removed all installed drivers from the driver store. If Windows has a default driver, it will still reinstall that driver, but you can generally leave that driver in place as it ships with Windows.

Some users have requested an explanation as to why they should reset their network stack. They want to know what the commands do, and that's great! We love users that want to understand how stuff works. Following is each command in the Windows stack reset, and an explanation of what it does. At the bottom of the article, you can find references for terminology, and further reading.

netsh winsock reset resets the Winsock protocol, which is what Windows uses to interface with the TCP/IP stack. There are very few ways to manually configure this, yet it is possible for it to get corrupted, so resetting it is always a good first bet. This can solve issues that prevent a machine connecting to a router.

netsh int ip reset resets your machine's TCP/IP settings. TCP/IP is the standard your machine uses to connect to any other machine, locally or on the Internet. These settings are usually fairly generic, so resetting them is harmless, but if they are corrupted, it can cause problems, such as inability to connect to certain routers.

ipconfig /release tells your computer to release the IP (Internet Position Address) it is currently using, and also instructs the router to disassociate the IP with your machine. If the router has any hung resources connected to the IP, this can free them up.

ipconfig /renew is necessary to regain an IP after the previous command. You could accomplish the same thing by restarting the machine, but some routers seem to prefer this method, and will not hand out an IP otherwise.

ipconfig /flushdns clears out your DNS cache. DNS = Domain Name Server. DNS is how computers turn names into numbers -- web addresses into IP addresses. When you type www.google.com into your browser and press Enter, your computer actually accesses a sort of phone book (DNS server), looks up the IP address for www.google.com, then navigates to that IP address. It will then cache this information so that it doesn't have to spend the time looking it up next time - it will just go straight to that IP address, without touching the DNS server. If, somehow, this information is wrong (websites move and cache files get corrupted) clearing this cache can be helpful. Worst case scenario, it runs microseconds slower because it has to look up and re-cache those DNS addresses again. In days past, this delay was far more noticeable than now.

Terminology and further reading: (warning: these sites lead to external websites)